Piano concerts headline AC’s inaugural Keep Us Live! Arts Performance Series
Amarillo College is pleased to introduce a mix of musical and theatrical entertainment opportunities that are on tap in the year ahead that have been collectively dubbed the Keep Us Live! Arts Performance Series.
The inaugural Arts Performance Series, being sponsored by Keep Us Live!, is comprised of five live performances, the first four of which are piano concerts that will replicate what has for many years been popularly known as the AC Piano Series. The Arts Performance Series will conclude on April 27, 2025 with a captivating new musical, Between the Lines, presented by AC theatre students.
The four concerts, which are free and open to the public, will each be conducted at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday evenings at the Concert Hall Theater on AC’s Washington Street Campus. The Series will commence on Oct. 1 with Medleys Buffet, which will be presented by the talented and versatile AC music faculty duo of Dr. Bruce Lin and Dr. Nathaniel Fryml.
“We love offering a variety of musical entertainment selections at no cost to our music-loving community,” Dr. Bruce Lin, director of piano at AC, said. “We are so appreciative of the warm receptions our concerts have received in the recent years past. It’s what drives us to try and raise the bar even higher each year.
“I am confident that our audiences will particularly enjoy what we have in store for them this year as we launch our Arts Performance Series,” Lin said. “We have some exceptional music lined up, along with some amazing guest artists that I look forward to hearing myself.”
The schedule of events for the 2024-25 Series is as follows:
Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. – “Medleys Buffet” – Dr. Nathan Fryml and Dr. Bruce Lin, piano, will play songs to appease a variety of musical tastes – from “Do-Re-Mi” to “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Their selections will range from classical opera and the movies to contemporary, each leading the audience to harken back to the good old days!
Lin, director of the piano studies at Amarillo College, organizes the piano installments for the Arts Performance Series. He formerly taught at Texas Lutheran University and the University of the Incarnate Word.
Dr. Nathaniel Fryml is the director of choral activities at AC and also serves as artistic director of the Amarillo Master Chorale. He actively performs as a keyboard soloist and chamber musician.
Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m. – “For the Beauty of the Earth: Hymns and Folksongs" – Dr. Eric M. Daub, retired associate professor of music at Texas Lutheran University, will present inspirational hymns and folk songs that he has felt a special connection with since his youth. Daub will play such timeless selections as “Be Though My Vision,” “Danny Boy” and “Shall We Gather at the River.”
Dr. Eric M. Daub, now retired, headed both Piano Studies and Music Theory while at Texas Lutheran University. He has a wide range of experience as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, recording artist, collaborative pianist, church musician, arranger, and jazz pianist. He has worked with various singer-song writers in the Austin area, co-writing, arranging, and recording music in all styles of music. His musical experiences have led to collaborations with such musicians as bassists Kristin Korb and Roscoe Beck, guitarists Van Wilks and Dave Sebree, singers Babbie Mason and Diane Schurr, and composer Jake Heggie.
Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. – “Jam with Love 2025” – The accomplished AC music faculty and students assemble to share music of love that nurtures the Valentine spirit. This is a chance for anyone who may be feeling cooped up by the mid-winter’s blustery conditions to get out and listen to some spirited strains of optimism, hope, and love.
Tuesday, April 1 at 7:30 p.m. – “(April) Fools’ Paradise” – Accomplished pianist John Bayless will bring his improvisational style to a variety of feel-good genres, from opera to Broadway shows, music from the movies, and even the Beatles, on a day widely associated with mirth.
Bayless who began playing piano at age 4, today is known for his keen ability to imaginatively improvise popular music through his own blend of classical training and piano technique. A product of Borger, Texas, Bayless won a scholarship to the Aspen School of Music at age 15. He went from there to study at the Julliard School of Music, and he also studied at New York University with Leonard Bernstein, among others.
Tuesday, April 27, 2025 at 3 p.m. in the Experimental Theatre – “Between the Lines” – This engrossing new musical is for anyone who’s ever felt out of place. Delilah, an outsider in a new town and school, finds solace in a book where she connects with the charming Prince Oliver. As fantasy and reality intertwine, Delilah learns to navigate her real world while keeping her dreams alive.